​Obsolete: 33% of British workers replaced by machines over next 20 yrs?

More than a third of all UK jobs could be replaced by machines in as little as 20 years because of rapid advances in technology, according to a study.

The paper, by two Oxford
University academics and Deloitte released on Tuesday, found that
repetitive processing, clerical and support service jobs are most
at risk of being replaced.

Rapid advances in computer intelligence puts jobs at high risk of
disappearing, the researchers found.

“High risk” jobs include office and administrative
support, sales and services, transport, building and extraction,
and production.

“Although the replacement of people by machines is well
understood, the scale and scope of changes yet to come may not
be,” the report said.

However, 40 percent of UK jobs are at low or no risk (51 percent
in London), the researchers said, including positions in skilled
management, financial services, computing, engineering and
science, education, legal services, community services, the arts
and media, and healthcare.

The research also showed that the fastest-growing jobs worldwide
include employments that barely existed 10 years ago, such as
Zumba dance fitness instructors and Big Data architects.

Deloitte senior partner Angus Knowles-Cutler said: “Unless
these changes coming in the next two decades are fully understood
and anticipated by businesses, policy makers and educators, there
will be a risk of avoidable unemployment and
under-employment.”

“Skilled cities like London are incubators for new ideas and
products. With the right policies, London can be at the
front-line in developing the next generation of digital
technologies,” concludes Carl Benedikt Frey of Oxford
University.